That's Racing: Petty rides for kids, lost son

NASCAR driver Kyle Petty has a laugh with a Victory Junction camper while visiting the camp in Randleman, N.C. during the 2008 Chick-fil-A Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America. Kevin Kane Photography

Adam Petty, an effervescent teenager with the trademark Petty-sunbeam smile, died in a crash at New Hampshire Speedway in 2000 and from his parents’ grief arose a lasting monument.

Kyle and Pattie Petty, on a plot of North Carolina land donated by Adam’s famous grandfather Richard, built Victory Junction Camp, an expense-paid retreat for youngsters with life-threatening ailments.

The camp, dedicated to Adam’s memory, opened in 2004. Since then it has hosted more than 10,000 kids, bringing some much-needed joy into struggling young lives.

“Every time I see a smile on the faces of one of those kids, I see Adam,” Kyle says. “The camp keeps his spirit alive.”

The camp, which includes in-house medical facilities and trained staff, is expensive to operate. NASCAR, its fans and drivers help support it, and Kyle makes an annual celebrity motorcycle tour to generate funds and promote awareness.

This year’s ride started last Friday in Stevenson, Wash., on a 3,500-mile path to Greensboro, N.C. On Saturday, it will make a 7:45 a.m. stop at the Brentwood Chick-fil-A, 3300 Franklin Road.

The 200 riders include such sports celebrities as former football great Herschel Walker, golfer Davis Love III and retired NASCAR star Harry Gant. The public is invited to come out and meet the riders.

The Nashville stop is special for Kyle because his daughter Montgomery Lee, a Belmont University graduate, lives here.

The spring of 2000 was a tragic period for the Petty family whose patriarch, Lee, died shortly before Adam’s fatal crash. In a span of a few weeks, racing’s First Family lost its past and its future. Only 19 at the time of his death, Adam had inherited his famous grandfather’s incredible driving talent along with his captivating charisma.

There’s no question that Adam Petty would have become a superstar in the sport.

His loss signaled an end to stock car racing’s greatest dynasty. Kyle continued to race to help keep Petty Enterprises afloat, but his broken heart wasn’t in it.

Earlier this year the half-century-old team was absorbed by another racing operation. Even though it is called Richard Petty Motorsports and carries the familiar No. 43 on its cars, decals and paint jobs can’t disguise what was lost.

Kyle put it best when the team transferred its operation from its original base in Level Cross — across the road from Richard’s boyhood home — to Charlotte, N.C.: “To me, it’s not the same team.”

He hasn’t officially retired, even though he’s currently not driving, but Kyle is no longer associated with the new “Petty” team. He dabbles in TV work but devotes most of his time and energy to Victory Junction and related fund-raising activities.

This wasn’t the way the Pettys had planned it.

Adam was supposed to carry the legacy forward into a fourth generation and beyond. But when he died, the future died with him.

All that’s left are memories, and Kyle is determined to keep them alive.